INDISPUTABLY, the highlight of Whyte's auction of stamps and postal history material, starting at 1 p.m. today, is a number of Fenian and Sinn Fein stamps. The sale, at Whyte's premises on Marlborough Street, Dublin, includes a 24 cents stamp issued in 1867 by the Fenians in the United States in anticipation of their rising that year; the venture was unsuccessful and only a handful of the stamps produced survive, so this one carries an estimate of £900.

A 1907 printer's proof of Sinn Fein stamps ordered by Arthur Griffith is expected to make £1,500; used on mail as political propaganda, these stamps were banned by the then British government.

With more than 1,200 lots in this auction - which coincides with the 25th national stamp exhibition, Stampa' 96, at Dublin's Riverside Centre this weekend other interesting items include an 1853 William of Orange engraved envelope, used from Dublin and carrying an estimate of £1,000. There's also a set of three 1922 high-value overprints on envelopes (£750); a set of St Patrick stamps, used on their day of issue in 1937 (£1,800), and a 1930 Shannon Scheme first-day cover (£450).